Pedal board

This series of effects produces a gated guitar rhythm triggered by a drum loop.






The guitar output is divided with two chains triggered by the kick drum, one an octave lower and one through a bright reverb. Another chain is triggered by the snare and hi-hat and runs through an Electro Harmonix Ring Thing, using a ring modulator on a delayed signal.



You can hear this set-up in the tune Blue Moon below, along with a few effects added in post-production.

Blue Moon by bassling

Bass Synthesiser pedal comparison

The postman brought a Behringer Bass Synthesiser pedal to me this week. They're about $70 new on Ebay and do a good fuzz wah if you use an expression pedal. Also has some phasing sort of modulation settings and squelchy analogue sounds.



Boss also make one but it's not as good at tracking the notes. Also the Behringer has a pitch hold function. I guess you can hold a note and then use the direct output to play over the top -- a bit like the new Electro Harmonix Freeze pedal I'd guess. (Keen to try one of those.)



The Behringer also gets closer to the sound of an Electro Harmonix Q-tron pedal for that Higher Ground sound. Unlike Boss though, the Behringer is made of plastic.



The Boss's shortcoming in tracking a bass makes an interesting effect on drums though. It creates these somewhat atonal but quite bubbly generated basslines. It's very acid sounding and fun for jamming.

Pedal board

Here's the pedal board I've been using with my guitar recently.

A few comments about the effects:

• Holy Stain is an interesting multi-effect but, as much as I like the reverbs and tremolo, it falls short in the distortions. Using an expression pedal to control the length of the reverb is a great feature though.
• Tubescreamer is great for warm tones but also for taming the Giant Cooter.
• MXR's EQ is beaut, even when it's off it seems to add something pleasant.
• LPB adds a big bluntness to the attack that's great with the Cooter but I'd like something that adds more presence without the oomph.

Quote

"Human beings have the capacity to find various viewpoints to approach a problem or to find a solution. There are an infinite number of ways to look at things"

- Herbie Hancock (one of my favourite musicians)

'80s music

Digital for the '00s

New bass amp

I bought this secondhand Peavey TNT 160 from a bloke in Coolamon. It's got a lovely deep tone.



This is my first amp with an 18-inch speaker and the sound it produces wobbles my wobbly bits.



It's also got unusual features like this built-in crossover.



I'd guess the amp is 20-30 years old. I had a Peavey TNT bass amp in 1993 that was at least thirdhand. That was my first proper amp after four years of playing through five-watt guitar amps or putting the headstock against my cupboard doors.



Do you reckon I need to replace the scorpion?